Mr Usher said: “There has been some slight progress around administrative staff but the company’s attitude towards frontline revenue protection staff needs to change within the next seven days or we will be proceeding to a ballot.

“As things stand, 75 revenue protection staff could be lost under the company’s proposals, and we believe that is the economics of the madhouse.

“We believe a robust revenue protection team will provide revenue for the company going forward.

“The sands of time are running out.

“A ballot will be held if there is no progress and that will be of RMT members across all grades, between 1,700 and 1,800 people in total. The ballot will be for strike action, or action short of a strike, in defence of our members’ jobs and terms and conditions.

“We will always look to make progress with sensible, meaningful negotiations but we seem to be banging our heads against a brick wall. We do not want to do that because it will cause difficulties for the public.”

London Midland revealed its job loss plans as part of a restructuring plan last month.

It said it faced rising costs and the proposed changes would concentrate on head office and back-up staff.

In a statement, London Midland managing director Patrick Verwer said: “Like every other business we have to keep our costs under control.

“Our proposal has been designed to increase efficiency and reduce our costs while continuing to improve trains and station services.”